Los Angeles Times: California Vs. Florida: Surprising Which Handled COVID Better
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis take the stage Thursday for their much-hyped televised debate, it will be perhaps the starkest visual representation of the divide between the two states. While many social, political and economic factors contribute to that gulf, perhaps no topic better encapsulates the bicoastal conflict than the states’ respective responses to the COVID-19 crisis — the ramifications of which are still resonating and being debated half a year after the end of the pandemic’s emergency phase. (Lin II, Money and Greene, 11/27)

San Diego Union-Tribune: After COVID Disruption, Sick Season Seems To Be Setting Into Its Normal Pattern 
So far, respiratory virus activity in San Diego County has been much more bearable than it was this time last year. Local labs and medical providers reported 942 coronavirus, 425 flu and 297 respiratory syncytial virus cases to the public health department last week. Last year, the numbers were eye-poppingly higher: 3,441 coronavirus, 2,386 flu, 401 RSV, during the same week. (Sisson, 11/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Is Novavax, The Latecomer COVID-19 Vaccine, Worth The Wait?
Erin Kissane, a co-founder of the COVID Tracking Project, rolled up her sleeve for the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine in mid-October soon after it was finally recommended in the United States. Like many people with autoimmune diseases, she wants to protect herself from a potentially devastating COVID infection. Kissane’s autoimmune arthritis seems to make her susceptible to unusual vaccine side effects. After getting an mRNA booster last year, her joints ached so painfully that her doctor prescribed steroids to dampen the inflammation. She still considers the mRNA vaccines “miraculous,” knowing COVID could be far worse than temporary aches. (Waxmen, 11/27)

Los Angeles Times: Pandemic Ballot Measure Backed By Bankman-Fried Faces Trouble
When a group of wealthy Californians launched a ballot measure campaign in late 2021 aimed at improving pandemic preparedness after the deadly COVID-19 outbreak, they netted more than $21 million in less than six months. The money backing the initiative, which would raise taxes on the wealthy, came from two groups with ties to Silicon Valley: one underwritten by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, the other by cryptocurrency executive Sam Bankman-Fried. (Nelson, 11/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Back Pain? Bum Knee? Be Prepared To Wait For A Physical Therapist
At no point along his three-year path to earning a degree in physical therapy has Matthew Lee worried about getting a job. Being able to make a living off that degree? That’s a different question — and the answer is affecting the supply of physical therapists across the nation: The cost of getting trained is out of proportion to the pay. “There’s definitely a shortage of PTs. The jobs are there,” said Lee, a student at California State University Sacramento who is on track to receive his degree in May. “But you may be starting out at $80,000 while carrying up to $200,000 in student debt. It’s a lot to consider.” (Kreidler, 11/26)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento County Spends 45% Of Its Homeless Budget On Shelter
For every one person who exits homelessness in Sacramento County, three more people become unhoused. This severe and worsening crisis commands vast resources from local government agencies. The Sacramento Bee submitted a California Public Records Act request for documentation of county government spending on homelessness, which in the 2022-23 fiscal year was $177.5 million. In response to that request, the county provided three charts. (Lange, 11/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: New Homelessness Study Reveals Alarming Statistic For Unhoused People
It’s long been known that homeless people are in danger of dying unnecessarily early, but now we have strong data on the increased risk. According to a groundbreaking news study, non-elderly homeless people are about 3.5 times more likely to die in any given year as people with housing. The researchers found that those living in California are no exception, though unhoused people in New York were slightly better off. The study, which was recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, also showed a 40-year-old person experiencing homelessness has a similar risk of death as a 60-year-old person with housing. The research has not yet been peer-reviewed. Leonard, 11/27)

Los Angeles Times: Scotland's Legal Right To Housing Holds Lessons For LA
A few days after John Dalton declared himself homeless, the Scottish government moved him into Muirhouse Mansion, a 19th century stone home built to resemble a Gothic castle. From his private bedroom, No. 16, he could see an island monastery in the Firth of Forth, an estuary that drains into the North Sea. “I thought, ‘Yeah, this is a bit unusual for homeless accommodations,’” Dalton said as he showed off the property on a crisp fall morning. (Bierman, 11/27)

Los Angeles Times: Cal Poly Humboldt Students Who Live In Vehicles Are Ordered Off Campus 
Cal Poly Humboldt students living in their vehicles amid a severe housing crisis found community in campus parking lot G11. But when the university ordered them off campus, their sense of safety was sundered. (Truong, 11/26)

San Diego Union-Tribune: This Veterinarian Walks The Streets To Treat Unhoused People's Pets. Now He's Up For CNN Hero The Year.
Veterinarian and North County resident Dr. Kwane Stewart has been tapped as one of 10 CNN Heroes of 2023, in the running to be named the CNN Hero of the Year for his work treating the pets of unhoused people. Stewart founded Project Street Vet. Through it, veterinarians hit the streets to treat the pets of homeless people. (Figueroa, 11/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: A Year After Bay Area Refinery’s Release Of Toxic Dust, Fear Lingers
The FBI agents had just begun knocking on doors when the neighbors started texting: Federal investigators were asking about the Martinez oil refinery that had belched tons of toxic dust into town. It was six months after the November 2022 incident, and Wendy Ke didn’t want to miss the chance to tell them about the ashy material her family cleaned off their car and the asthma symptoms she only recently had developed. So her husband drove around the neighborhood until he found two agents. He rolled down the window and asked them to stop by their front porch. (Johnson, 11/24)

Los Angeles Times: UCLA Has A New Disability Studies Major 
UCLA junior Vivek Chotai doesn’t plan to pursue his school’s new disability studies major — the first of its kind at any public university in the state — or even take classes in it. Yet for the 21-year-old leukemia survivor and thousands of other disabled students across the University of California and California State University systems, the program is a critical victory in a decades-long battle for visibility and recognition. “We’re judged by our medical histories,” Chotai said. “[We’re] told that we won’t graduate, that we won’t be healthy, that we are not able to live the lives we want to. Any effort that advances the understanding of our community ... is education that can be used to create change.” (Sharp, 11/27)

Los Angeles Times: A Woman Was Jailed For Shoplifting. Weeks Later, Her Mother Got Back A Decaying Corpse 
Earlier this month, after more than a year of looking for answers, San Diego-based attorneys Lauren Williams and Timothy Scott filed a lawsuit against county officials, jail medical providers and the funeral home that handled Amanda Bews’ body. “Folks whose family members die in custody are often waiting months for information about how their loved ones passed away. And even when they do find out from an autopsy, the answers are still vague — and that’s what we see here,” Williams told The Times. (Blakinger, 11/26)

Los Angeles Daily News: Concerned About The Physical Changes Caused By Aging? Try This. 
Gratitude can affect body chemistry, making us feel good by releasing two “feel-good” hormones, dopamine and serotonin. Both contribute to feelings of pleasure, happiness and overall well-being while also positively affecting mood, willpower and motivation. Gratitude also is considered good medicine, according to UC Davis Health Medical Center. It is related to lower levels of stress hormones and is associated with higher levels of good cholesterol and lower levels of bad cholesterol.  (Dennis, 11/26)